Something to be Thankful For
by Serena Thorn
Summary: Veronica had thought she would be chasing down a bail-jumper in Texas. Not spending Thanksgiving with Lamb and his family


Title: Something to be Thankful For  
Summary: Veronica had thought she would be chasing down a bail-jumper in Texas. Not spending Thanksgiving with Lamb and his family  
Rating: PG-13  
Spoilers: Minor for 1x22 and 2x22  
Characters/Pairings: Veronica/Lamb, OFCs  
Word Count: 2750  
Disclaimer: Veronica Mars is not owned by me, but by Rob Thomas. I'm simply borrowing these characters for non-profit entertainment.  
A/N: Let's just say this takes place during/after an AU S3 'cause, well, I reject RT's reality.

* * *

Keith spending Thanksgiving away wasn't too new, but Wallace was spending Thanksgiving with his family, new girlfriend included too. That meant she was alone this year.

So Veronica did what she did best when she was on her own. She worked. Originally she had planned on going after the most recent bail jumper until after the holiday, surely one day wouldn't make too much of a difference for a guy who hardly seemed to be high-risk.

Though now she was in Texas looking for Richard Thomas, going bar to bar of those he was known for frequenting.

She expected to see men trying to avoid the holiday at the bars she went into. She didn't however expect one of them to be the sheriff she thought was still in Neptune.

Looking over to the entrance, Lamb set his third beer of the night down and decided he'd had enough. Now he was seeing the girl he couldn't possibly be seeing and had partially come home for the weekend to escape.

"Deputy!" she beamed as she stepped up to his side. "Now as much as I love to see you sitting around and feeling sorry for yourself, what are you doing here?"

"Normal people spend the holidays with their families," Lamb sighed as he took another sip of his beer - it was okay now that he wasn't in fact hallucinating.

Veronica glanced around the bar, mostly for show. It had been nearly empty when she walked in, hence how she had seen him in the first place. "Are they invisible? I'm not standing on your invisible mother's foot, am I?"

He sighed again. "Everybody's back at my mom's place. I was there up until the wine kicked in. 'Why don't you come home more often?' 'Eric married a doctor, when is my youngest son going to make me a grandmother?' I decided to leave before my brothers started in."

"Uh huh. So you came to a bar?"

"Sounded like a good idea at the time."

Veronica shook her head. It was Thanksgiving, her father was in New Mexico, Lamb was trying to drink away the holiday. She couldn't be held responsible for what she would say next. "How about we get out of here?"

Lamb cocked a perfectly arched brow at her. "Is that an invitation, Mars?"

"You're not the only one not feeling the holiday spirit. I've got a motel room, we could load up on junk and pretend it's Friday already. Or would you rather take me home to meet the folks?" she smirked.

His mother, his two older brothers and their spouses… He considered it. It would be one way to punish them for driving him out of the house in the first place tonight, he decided. "Tell you what, Veronica, you come back with me to my mom's place. If she ends up asking when we're getting married you're taking me to your motel and we're ordering Chinese."

Thanksgiving with Lamb. Hell, with the whole Lamb clan… Ironically it still beat her original plans. "Hand me your keys and lead the way," she grinned.

He laughed as he handed them over. He still didn't trust her driving, but especially as a sheriff a DWI was not something he wanted or needed tonight.

Twenty minutes Don Lamb was walking his favorite nemesis into his mother's house, relieved to see the appearance that everyone had sobered up in his absence. He couldn't hear any shouting or arguing. Instead there seemed to be laughter coming from the dining room.

"Anyone miss me?" he called out.

"Donnie?" Jack called out.

"Yeah, I'm back. And I brought our annual semi-human sacrifice "Turning to Veronica, he smiled and shook his head as if to reassure her.

To her surprise, she laughed as she followed him further into the nice home.

I_So much for Lamb having been raised by wolves,/I_ Veronica mused as she looked over the framed photo-lined walls. Senior portraits, what she guessed to be the wedding photos of the men she rightfully presumed to be his brothers. She couldn't deny the warm feeling she felt being there, there was just something about realizing he was in fact human and was at least a good enough son to come home for Thanksgiving.

"Wow, Donnie-boy, could've just said you were going to pick up your girl. Is this the one we've been hearing about?" Eric asked him.

Veronica turned and crossed her arms over her chest and looked to the sheriff. Had she been talked about? Now she was intrigued.

"You mean that constant pain in my -" he replied as he reached for his plate.

"Don!" his mother called out. She put up with a lot from her sons, profanity at the dinner table - especially on a holiday when she had all of her children, including her in-law children present, was not one of them.

"I was going to say side," he lied as convincingly as he could manage.

"Funny. You usually say your left -"

"Jack," their mother warned.

"I was going to say side," Jack smirked from his seat as he looked to his brother.

"Whatever you've heard I'm sure are all lies," Veronica stated, deciding to do damage control while she could.

"Well, then why don't you tell us a bit about yourself while you have a seat and I set you a place?" Mrs. Lamb asked as she stood.

"Alright, thanks," she smiled back to the older woman before glancing around to the expectant stares from the people surrounding the table.

"Okay, okay," Don spoke up when he saw her pause. Going down the line, he introduced her. "Veronica Mars, this is my brother Jack, don't fall for anything he says. His husband Steve, careful of his recruitment speeches; he'd have you as a member of this family in no time. My brother Eric, keep his hands in sight at all times. His wife, Dr. Ana, hope you don't mind a potty mouth and of course my mother, Patty Lamb - the wonderful woman who birthed us lovely men and didn't drown us when anyone else might have." Turning back to his family, he added, "Everybody, this is Veronica."

"So you I_are_/I Veronica," Ana smiled. "Nice to finally put a face to the reputation."

Veronica nervously smiled back to the slender brunette. "Dare I ask what my reputation here is?"

"The next one to meet Lamb Wife Row," Steve answered, only to be rewarded with Jack's elbow in his ribs.

Veronica wanted to laugh. "Well I can speak for myself, even if Don prefers to believe otherwise and we're -"

"Told you she's charming," he grinned sardonically.

"Anyway, we're not -"

"So, Veronica, what do you do?" Patty asked as she emerged from the kitchen.

"I work for my dad, I'm kind of his glorified secretary at his private detective agency."

"Impressive," she smiled. "That must be how you met Don."

"Sort of, my dad used to be the sheriff," she answered cautiously when she saw Lamb coming back into the dining room with a plate for each of them.

"I bring one girl home and all anyone wants to hear about is her," he sighed as he sat beside her. He really didn't want to get into this, their history was hardly something he felt like talking about tonight.

"It's your own fault for her being the first worth wanting to know," Eric chimed.

"Okay, well I've heard nothing about any of you, so -"

"I'd be the slacker," Eric grinned at Lamb. He had taken on more responsibilities over the recent years than most had given him credit for; hell, he had even managed to marry a doctor! But he knew his brothers, especially his younger brother only saw him the way they remembered him best.

"The know-it-all," Jack followed. Could he help it if he was the eldest, most attractive most charming and of course, most modest of the Lamb men?

"More like the one who charmed the pants off of nearly all my past girlfriends," Lamb shot back to Jack.

"Thanks, Don," Steve groaned. Of all the holidays for his brother-in-law to nearly kill his appetite.

"That was before we met and you know it," Jack stated. Then he looked back to his baby brother. "And I can't help it that I'm prettier than you."

Lamb scoffed. "And don't be fooled by Eric. Sure Ana makes him look good, but five years ago -"

"You want to talk about what we were like five years ago?" Eric challenged. "Alright, five years ago, Donnie-boy here -"

"Boys," Patty warned. "This is Veronica's first holiday with us. I would encourage all of you to refrain from making it her last."

"It's okay, Veronica," Ana told her, "they're just showing off. Apart they're great, together they have the combined mental age of sixteen. But the rate they're going I'd say you're well on your way to being part of the family in no time," she added with a wink and a smile.

Veronica, for her part, didn't know whether to smile back or cringe. Part of the family? It was clear they already thought she was dating Lamb, but overall this wasn't so bad. It beat grabbing some fast food and holing up in the motel alone while still searching for the bail-jumping Richard Thomas at least. And just plain being alone back in Neptune. No Keith, no Wallace… At least she had some entertainment here.

"You know, Keith will be expecting Veronica home early tomorrow morning. Maybe I should take her back to her hotel," Don stated as he almost leapt from his seat. It was bad enough Veronica knew he talked about her with his family and now the marriage topic was about to be brought up again. No way, no how was he going to have Veronica spinning some scenario she had come up with off the top of her head that he would be expected to go along with.

"Don, that's silly. I'm not as old fashioned as you would have Veronica believe. I understand you're both adults and clearly this wouldn't be the first night you would spend together. You can share your old room."

That was more or less the rule now that all of her children were grown and two of which were married (and she hoped her youngest would follow soon). When they came home and were spending the night, they took their old rooms and their spouses were free to join them. Perhaps there wasn't a piece of paper between Don and Veronica to say that they were married but she could tell that they were closer than they were trying to imply. That only made her like Veronica more in fact, the level of what she believed to be respect she was showing.

"You might not be, but her father is," he replied quickly.

"It's true, my dad would probably shoot Don if he knew. Sheriff or not," Veronica followed. She never thought she would be so thankful for her father's protective streak.

"I'm sure your father is more aware than you think and if not, well, I don't suppose he's here. What he doesn't know won't hurt him," Patty winked. She wouldn't have this girl sleeping on the sofa or in some ratty motel. She was already there and had taken what her other sons had dished out beautifully.

"Give in now, Veronica. Patty won't take no for an answer," Steve told her.

Lamb and Veronica exchanged defeated glances. He knew from personal experience how it was and Veronica was picking up on it fast.

"How can I turn down such a warm invitation?" she asked.

"Wonderful! Now who can I interest in dessert?"

Every hand around the table shot up.

**

"What was that about getting Chinese and going back to the motel? You knew your mother would invite me to stay," Veronica accused when she and Lamb were in his bedroom a few holiday specials later.

"You're the first one she's liked enough to invite to spend the night."

"I'm the first one you've brought home."

"You're the first I've brought home they're willing to talk about," he sighed as he considered just how far he should strip down give that he would be sharing his old bed with her.

"So you've really talked about me with them before now?" she asked as she shimmied out of her jeans. She had left her bag back at the motel - her (thankfully) tasteful bra and panty set would have to do for the night.

Lamb sighed as he climbed into the bed, clad in his undershirt and boxers. "They ask about work, I tell them about the tiny blonde who makes my job that much harder."

"Right," she grinned, "the pain in your 'side.' Admit it, you're just mad that I actually force you to do your job. I mean, if it hadn't been for me Abel would probably still be in jail for that crime he didn't commit."

"For the record, we were both wrong about that one. The right man paid finally. Can we get beyond that? It's late, I've had a full day with the family I spend most of the year trying to avoid and now I'm sharing the bed I spent my wonder years in with you."

Veronica almost laughed as she climbed in beside him. "Careful, Deputy, a girl could get the idea you're complaining."

"How is it you're not? You hate me and yet you seem to enjoy the idea that my family would have us married tomorrow."

"I don't hate you. I wouldn't marry you tomorrow either, but if I hated you I wouldn't be in my underwear and in your bed."

"My old bed," he groaned as he tried to shift into a more comfortable position. This bed was in no way made for a 6'1 man. Though of course The Petite Miss Mars was just fine. More and more the sofa was sounding better but the last thing he wanted was his mother thinking he and Veronica had fought.

"Lamb?"

"Mars."

"At the very least my dad would threaten to shoot you if he knew about this."

"So I won't be spending the night when you invite me over to Christmas dinner?" he smirked.

Even in the dim light of his bedroom she could see it and her initial reaction to hit him was still there. But she restrained herself and asked, "What makes you think I'm going to invite you to Christmas dinner."

"You like to be even."

"So I should expect an invite to the Sheriff Department's New Year's party too?"

His smirk never leaving his face, he replied, "And since you're still under twenty-one you won't be able to say the alcohol made you do it when you kiss me at midnight."

""What makes you think I'd kiss you instead of Sacks? Despite the moustache he's pretty hot for a strong, silent type."

"I don't see you in his bed. Next to him. Scantily clad," he went on as he eyed as much of her creamy skin as he could given that she had already covered most of herself with the sheet.

"Are we going to sleep or just talk all night?"

"Didn't know you were in such a rush to be able to say you've slept with me," he grinned.

I_Of course he'd go there_./I Only in this very technical sense. You're not the only one who's had a long day. I spent most of it trying to track down a bail jumper, thank you very much."

"Rich Thomas?"

"How'd you know?"

He scoffed. "Who's jail do you think he was in? I got a call a couple hours ago, San Antonio PD picked him up this afternoon."

"And I'm still here with you? Okay, I'm officially the joke of the universe."

"Because you didn't get your wish when you were too young to have it come true and are getting it now?"

I_Wish? I didn't wish for this. Frack! Mini-Veronica did./I_ I was a stupid, hormone-ridden kid. That doesn't count."

"And now you're nineteen, Mars. Be thankful and enjoy it." With that he was moving close, curling a possessive arm around her and kissing her before she could protest.

_INineteen, Mars, be thankful and enjoy it,/I_ she mentally repeated to herself as she kissed him back.

Thankful she was and enjoy it, I_him,/_ she did.

The End


End file.
